November 21, 2019
I interviewed a Berklee College of Music student on his opinions of Asian representation in the media and accompanied him through what a typical weekend looks like for a musician.
Sitting in a tea shop in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, Jeremy Cronson scans his MacBook screen studying the dynamics of a loudspeaker for his audio class. With the sound of 808 drums leaking from his headphones, he adjusts his gold wire-framed glasses as he takes a sip out of a paper cup. If you look in the cup though, you’ll only find water. In fact, Cronson comes to this tea shop solely to make music, study and be surrounded by the regular customers that have formed a sort of Asian community.
Asians have been underrepresented in American media up until the last few years. Asian celebrities are slowly making their way into mainstream entertainment, paving the way for other entertainers of the same background. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, Cronson, 22, plans to move to Los Angeles and pursue a career in the music industry – something that may have been difficult in previous years because of his racial background.
With every customer that walks into the shop, Cronson either already knows them or immediately introduces himself with a huge smile — one that makes you recognize how much he loves people. From this observation, you wouldn’t be able to tell that growing up, Cronson didn’t like talking about his feelings with other people. To cope his inner demons, he explains that he listened to music that mirrored the same type of emotions he was feeling. This made him feel like he wasn’t completely lost and alone.
When Cronson was in high school, he was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. He remembers that soon after, he was admitted to a hospital and how the band Twenty One Pilots helped him through one of the hardest times of his life.
“There was this one song where he talks about how somebody stole his car radio and how being in the car without distractions is super tough because you’re just in there by yourself with your own thoughts. It was a really comforting song because I could identify with the way he was feeling,” said Cronson.
As an infant, Cronson was adopted from South Korea and raised by Jewish parents in Framingham, Massachusetts. He recalls that growing up, he hated Mother’s and Father’s Day because he felt that he didn’t have the same bond with his biological parents that other kids did. “Everyone would always be like ‘Oh, Mother’s Day is for people who gave birth to you,’ and that used to [mess with me] a little bit,” said Cronson.
One of the things that helped him bond with his adoptive parents was music. During long road trips, his dad would play his favorite songs from the 70s and 80s. “Everytime I hear those songs, I feel a nostalgic connection to my dad,” said Cronson.
Cronson’s favorite part about music is how it brings people together. “It’s something to connect to when you feel disconnected from the world. It makes you remember that somebody feels the same way you do,” said Cronson.
After realizing his passion for music, namely hip-hop, Cronson decided to pursue a degree in Electronic Production and Design in order to gain an edge in the increasingly competitive music industry.
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During a Friday night show at a venue in Cambridge, Cronson (who performs under the stage name JKRON) walks out onto the stage, and the crowd immediately starts cheering and recording him on their cell phones. Among the sea of people is Andy Chan, the owner of the tea shop where Cronson spends his free time.
“There’s a lot of mimicking and pretentious things in the music scene, but not with Jeremy,” said Chan. “You don’t see another rapper that does it the way he does.”
Backtrack 10 years though, and Asians in the entertainment industry were few and far between. Cronson brings up the problem of Asian scarcity in Hollywood as he brushes his waist-length, bleached-ends hair, out of his face.
“How many Asian actors can you think of other than Ken Jeong? I can’t think of too many people,” said Cronson.
Doran Kim, a Boston University student studying Film and Television, also recalls seeing a music video in high school that starred an Asian woman and being shocked when she realized that until that moment, it had never crossed her mind how Asians, like herself, weren’t portrayed in the media.
It’s only been the past year or so that Kim has started seeing Asian women in American entertainment.
“It’s amazing how I was so unaware of [Asian underrepresentation] up until recently, so everytime I see [Asian women] on the big screen, it’s really cool and interesting,” said Kim.
When Asian-American actors are successful, they’re usually comedians or portrayed in an offensive light. Take Awkwafina or the Raj from the Big Bang Theory, for example. In most of their acting roles, East and South Asians are the target of jokes or self-deprecation that further negative stereotypes—all in the name of “comedy.”
Fortunately, the entertainment industry is slowly moving away from these offensive portrayal—the most infamous examples being Long Duk Dong in 16 Candles and Mickey Rooney’s yellowface portrayal of a Japanese man in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The most recent example of this shift is the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians, where the majority of the cast is Asian. Not only was it the highest-grossing romantic comedy in the past decade, but the film also received numerous awards and nominations, marking a milestone for Asians in Hollywood.
In the past few years, Asian entertainers have been gaining more attention with the breakthrough of 88rising, an American mass media company founded by Sean Miyashiro. 88rising works as a musical platform and record label, as well as a video and media content producer, primarily for Asian and Asian-American artists.
Under this label, 88rising has signed the likes of Joji, Rich Brian, NIKI, Higher Brothers and Dumbfoundead, as well as many other prominent Asian artists. Cronson believes this is a huge step in the right direction.
He explains that before 88rising, Steve Aoki was one of the only mainstream Asian artists in the music industry, pioneering the way for future artists. Aoki grew to prominence as Cronson was growing up, and seeing someone that looked like him gain so much traction inspired Cronson to also pursue music.
In 2018, Joji, who was born in Japan, made history as the first Asian-born artist to hit #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart with his album BALLADS 1. His fellow 88rising signee, Rich Brian, also reached #1 on the iTunes Hip-Hop Charts with his album Amen, making him the first Asian to do so. Only a couple of years ago, seeing Asians on the top of American music charts would have been unheard of.
Before the internet, an artist would have to sign with a record label to become big in the music industry, which meant that the way someone physically looked played an integral part in their ability to become successful. Cronson believes this practice is changing and that the music industry is now based more on skill than the way you look.
In the end, Cronson has no doubt in his ability to make it in the music industry, especially after 88rising’s growth in popularity.
“It doesn’t matter what you look like as long as you have bangers or bars,” said Cronson. “If someone’s physical image is different from what you’re expecting, then that’s a cool thing.”
Aileen Tran 